Reunited

Darkness held him. With nothing to rely on but his senses, he called out towards that dark void. 

"Ah, your back."

He didn't hear a response, but he did hear a slight shuffle beside himself amidst the silence. 

Maybe it was true that there was nothing worth discussing, but Perses was desperate to think of anything that wasn't pain. The pain captivated his mind, and it tore him apart. He didn't even have anything to shed a tear with. Answering his prayers, a voice rang out. 

"I did what you asked. I saw all kinds of things. The inner walls were in chaos and there's an army coming."

Holding back a groan, Perses perked up. As he did, the chains that apprehended him jingled with melancholy. 

"An army? Is it the kingdom's then?"

"No, well, kind of, apparently the kingdom does have an army, but this one's the Empire's. I don't know why they're here. It's all very confusing."

"Ah, now that you mention it, that does make a little more sense. Though I guess these are just more things, Machia didn't wish to tell me."

With a sombre smile, Perses looked down as far as his restraints would allow him. Soon, a sharp pain coated him, making him flinch. 

"Oh right, I'm really sorry, it's ok. I can go if it hurts you more-."

"No stay, please."

Perse's face contorted as the wounds across his body began to heal. Only for the flesh to be slowly reopened by the sharp edges of the stones buried within. Though he couldn't see it, the vivid image of how his current state probably appeared flooded his mind. 

With a tense, shaky voice, he turned back towards where he could only assume the devil girl sat. 

"Was there, anything else? Was Machia."

An even larger silence overtook the atmosphere as Perses was left waiting anxiously. 

"...Aren't you? Why aren't you mad at me."

Perses tilted his head with concern as he listened to the girl's soft, quivering voice. With great effort, he orchestrated a response. 

"Mad at you?"

"If I hadn't left your body, I, we could have avoided-"

"Hahaha. Well, that's not how I remember you being at all. I can't see right now, so if it wasn't for this faint feeling of strength, I'd have thought you were an imposter. Ha, no matter how you look at it it's my own fault. I'm the one that pushed my curiosity too far. I even came into the castle alone as just a weak child."

"You're not wrong to want to learn. I've been the same-"

"Right, we are certainly similar, aren't we? Infinitely curious yet ignorant of everything... But, don't you think it's weird, you know how we're connected like we are?

Perses looked down at his feet, of course, to no avail. Ignoring the searing pain in his mind, he concentrated on something, something he couldn't quite remember.

"Sometimes, I think, no, I feel like I've known you my entire life and yet didn't we only meet a few days ago? Ha, even then you spent most of that time wandering, didn't you? Do you, by any chance, do you remember something like that?"

Perses looked towards her, listening intently with a meaningful yet expectant expression. 

"I, I don't, sorry."

Perses sighed. His condition was making him too sentimental. It was more than likely he had made the whole thing up. With a sense of disappointment, Perse's dreary mind started to ease itself of concern. Slowly, he felt his inner voice slip, away. 

A sound.

Regaining a slither of his conscience, Perses listened with everything he had. It was a beautiful sound. A wave of nostalgia washed over him as he embraced the gentle sensation. Soon, the noise entered his very mind. That soft weeping eased him as he felt the pain around him dissipate.

He didn't have the energy to understand, so he simply enjoyed it as everything all at once became just a little more bearable. 

Before falling into a comfortable rest, the last thing Perses heard was the sound of heavy footsteps.